New GM or not?

[MightyFrenchman]

This question was posed before but is there a new general manager at the Brownsburg station, WKLU?

 

[Flying-Dutchman]

They turned their back on their community of license. They moved
their studio so far from Brownsburg that skip from Cincinnati's 101.9
makes it so they can't receive themselves at their own office on
September mornings. Hope the FCC moves them back to Hendricks
County where they belong.

 

[radioking2]

Yes - Bart Johnson has accepted the GM position. Mark Clarke is gone.

 

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

the FCC Doesnt care about Community of Licesnce these days why do you think the incoperated Suburb of Norwood Ohio aka Cincinnati Ohio got Connersville WIFE.

 

[radiofriend1]

the FCC Doesnt care about Community of Licesnce these days why do you think the incoperated Suburb of Norwood Ohio aka Cincinnati Ohio got Connersville WIFE.

exactly. that sort of think is, oh, about 30 yrs ago

 

[ten_four]

I'm not in a position to know, but did KLU turn their back on
Brownsburg, or did Brownsburg turn their collective back on the radio station? Radio stations are businesses, and if the local businesses in Brownsburg weren't supporting the efforts of the station so the station could make money, why shouldn't the owner optimize his earning potential? It's why Delphi, Monticello, Battle Ground, Hartford City, Alexandria, Elwood, and Bluffton among others, no longer have truly local radio service.

 

[radiofriend1]

I'm not in a position to know, but did KLU turn their back on
Brownsburg, or did Brownsburg turn their collective back on the radio station? Radio stations are businesses, and if the local businesses in Brownsburg weren't supporting the efforts of the station so the station could make money, why shouldn't the owner optimize his earning potential? It's why Delphi, Monticello, Battle Ground, Hartford City, Alexandria, Elwood, and Bluffton among others, no longer have truly local radio service.

again that is 1967 thinking

get over it

 

[ten_four]

It's 1967 thinking to make money at a radio station?

If the city and county of license will not support their station with their advertising dollars why should an owner keep his station focused only on that city? I'm as outraged as anyone that truly local radio services are harder and harder to find, but if there is no local support (listeners/advertising dollars) you either go dark or do what the owner of KLU and others have done.

 

[radiofriend1]

It's 1967 thinking to make money at a radio station?

If the city and county of license will not support their station with their advertising dollars why should an owner keep his station focused only on that city? I'm as outraged as anyone that truly local radio services are harder and harder to find, but if there is no local support (listeners/advertising dollars) you either go dark or do what the owner of KLU and others have done.

it is 1967 thinking to go on and on and on that your station that's licensed to your small town (that's moved it's stick into a larger market to MAKE MONEY)

what do they expect? the daily obits or farm reports, or Tradio?

if it were that lucrative to operate in the small town they'd still be doing it

instead of whining about it, they should go out and buy & operate their own small town, home town radio station

 

[Ur-A-Dawg]

Let's face it that Flying Dutchman guy is POd and sour grapes because the radio stations he started
are no longer in those dead towns he put them in.
Some of his old stations are doing quite well under our corporate roof though.

 

[Hionradio]

I'm kind of curious. How does moving your studios from a one bedroom house that used to be a pet shop to an office building in Castleton constitute "Turning your back on your city of license?" What do studios have to do with service? :

 

[radio2100]

Wow! I actually agree with Hionradio about something.

It shouldn't matter if the studios are physically in the COL. Take a look at all the rest of the "suburban" stations in Indy. Is there anyone in their COL?

Service and studio location are two different things.

Now, if you want to talk about serving the community and COL, then that's a whole new thread.

 

[Ur-A-Dawg]

A Pet store! The newspapers say Bruce couldn't see. Guess he didn't have a nose either.
A story in the Indy Star says Quinn had 3 pet cats freely roaming the building. Did Bruce
make you to empty the litter box?
Trade publications quote Russ Oasis as saying he buys fixer upper radio stations and sells
them fast for lots of cash.
Guess WKLU is fixed up now.
My employer says the only value that radio station has is in the value of the frequency
that Bruce Quinn found in Indianapolis. And that the new owner will move the signal downtown
and put the studio under their corporate roof.
Hope they go for a younger demo too.

 

[Lafayette Unplugged]

Once you wave a big wad of bills under somebody's nose, all of that "we're a family and nobody will be let go and the format won't change" talk goes out the window.

Most owners are liars or most liars are owners?
I can never keep that straight for some reason.

 

[Tired-Old-Dog]

I don't appreciate the joke about Bruce Quinn's handicap. From what i am seeing, it appears
Bruce Quinn the former GM of WKLU has some real problems with the direction the current licensee
has taken the station. A reporter friend of mine is interested in the story and digging into this further.

 

[radio2100]

Why should he care? He's got his 6 mil.

I believe that since Russ owns the station, he can do whatever he wants with it.

 

[MightyFrenchman]

I thought that WKLU sold for 8 million? It will be difficult to get that kind of money for it now.

Why should he care? He's got his 6 mil.

I believe that since Russ owns the station, he can do whatever he wants with it.

 

[Ur-A-Dawg]

How's that? An unbuilt CP in a Cincinnati suburb just sold for $18 million.
Looks like someone short changed the handicapped!

 

[IndyDan]

I thought that WKLU sold for 8 million? It will be difficult to get that kind of money for it now.

No, it was right at 6 million. Not a bad return since it only cost the Quinns roughly 60 thousand to put it on the air in '92. All used equipment, and everything else was bought at garage sales. Bruce didn't get all of it since there were relatives involved..I believe he ended up with a little over a million according to an article I read.
Yes, the studio was in fact an exotic pet shop and it had to be fumigated before the studios were built. It is a 2 bedroom house with a basement that held sales offices and a small production studio. It is now a house once again with occupants. Bruce is legally blind, but can see well enough to get around. He does not drive and has suffered a stroke since I last saw him. He is a good guy, but a little quirky...but aren't we all in some way?
When it went on the air, it was as family run as you can get. His mom (now deceased) actually held the license, and his dad and brother were also involved in the operation. They basicly financed the operation for Bruce, who also had the stations in Monticello and Attica. Attica was sold a couple of years or so after 101.9 came on the air, and I am not sure about who now actually owns the station in Monticello. I am curious what Oasis actually has tied up in the station counting what he paid for it, the new digs and associated equipment, plus paying for the changes at Elwood so he could move the transmitter closer to town. I am sure when the time comes for him to sell it, he'll make some bucks and move on to another stick in need for some TLC. Bruce is comfortable and has his little LPFM in Columbus with Mitzi, and even if he doesn't like what happened with 'KLU, it's just like selling a car..the new owner can do whatever he wants with it.

 

[Ur-A-Dawg]

Thanks for the info Dan!
According to 2 stories in the Indianapolis Star, Bruce Quinn did not want to sell to Russ
Oasis. It was done while he was in the hospital for a stroke. I think there is going to be
another story soon.